Sometimes great people do amazing things! Sometimes we are blessed to see and experience it in our lifetime! Nelson Rolihahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. If he were still alive today we would be wishing him a happy 96th Birthday. He was a political activist & philanthropist who helped dismantle apartheid in South Africa and served as president from 1994-99.

He was revered as a world leader, showing us all that fighting for what is right is not always easy, but if you try hard enough, you can preserve. He died on December 5, 2013.

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of their skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love for love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite. What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others. That will determine the significance of the life we lead! Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall”. Nelson Mandela.

When he spoke, his words were profound, touching and powerful.

Sometimes it is not for us to learn from others but to lead the way and do something for ourselves and the world around us. I hope that “sometime” comes into your life and you are ready to embrace it and create the transformations needed!!

Whether this story is true or not, it beautifully offers us the opportunity to accept that we are not always aware of the influence we can have on someone else’s life….. When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighbourhood. I remember the polished black case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. "Information Please" knew anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to offer sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear: "Information." "I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, and the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. "Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me," I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" the voice asked. "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it really hurts1" "Can you open the icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it onto your finger," said the kindly voice. After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my maths. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts. Then there was the time Pete, our pet canary, died. I called, "Information Please," and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to people, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, "Information, please!" "Information," came the response in the now familiar voice. "How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information, please," belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane stopped over in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes.’ so I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information, please!" Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself asking, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?" There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?" "I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children of my own and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. "Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information. "I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" she asked. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was not well. She died five weeks ago." Before I could hang up, she asked, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne ?" "Yes," I answered. "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean." I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant. Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.

Whose life have you vibrationally touched today?Posted by Debbie A. Anderson

We all have heard that saying "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”. So picture this, driving along a country road, the crystal clear sky just turning to the richness of night with the moon almost in her completeness just two days away from being a “super moon” and the air cooling down from another hot summer day. My day had not been completely as planned, but sometimes life just happens so you have the opportunity to take from it the blessings. As my eyes watched the moon lighting up the sky I made a simple request. One day I would love to see fireflies……… Within moments my eyes caught glimpses of flecks of silver & bright white sparkling lanterns in the long grasses alongside the road. Really? This quickly? As I watched the cascading display before my eyes I knew these fireflies were a symbol, a sign!! Even if I was clueless they depicted a simplistic principal, their illumination was in essence a beautiful and vibrational display of play shining back at me in the darkness that was filling the void. The firefly shines from the inside out, showing us that the beauty within us can inspire and motivate us if we accept and embrace it. They, like us can be the strand of hope when everything feels impossible illuminating the way out of the darkness into the light. As I eased back into my seat I knew I had been blessed with this amazing spectacle of divine fascination and marvel. I am thankful for every miracle that is bestowed upon me. As Arthur Conan Doyle said “His sanguine spirit turns every firefly into a star.” Synchronicity my dear friends is not an accidental opportunity, but the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly connected. It is the foundation of cause and effect. Go out today and ask for something vibrational, then open your eyes and see your own fireflies!!Written by Debbie A. Anderson